Geelong coach Chris Scott says the Cats must not ‘overcorrect’ following poor showing against the Western Bulldogs

Geelong coach Chris Scott has hinted at several changes to his side which was badly beaten by the Western Bulldogs, while giving his opinion on Kardinia Park’s heavily criticised surface.

Emerging Geelong forward Shannon Neale is “likely” to return against North Melbourne. Picture: Michael Klein

The challenge for Geelong’s coaching staff will be to not “overcorrect” following its worst loss for the season last Saturday night against the Western Bulldogs, Chris Scott says.

However, there could be three changes to the Cats’ squad ahead of its Round 20 clash with North Melbourne in Hobart.

Scott confirmed young Geelong midfielder Tanner Bruhn would come back into the fold after a strong return through the VFL following a scaphoid fracture back in mid-June.

Bruhn collected 35 disposals, laid seven tackles and kicked a goal against Footscray in the curtain raiser at GMHBA Stadium.

Meanwhile, emerging forward Shannon Neale, who was a late withdrawal against the Western Bulldogs, was “likely” to come back but it remained uncertain if Tom Atkins would bounce back from a hamstring issue which kept him out of action in Round 19.

Shannon Neale impressed Cats fans with his aerial and athletic ability against North Melbourne in Round 5. Picture: Michael Klein

“He looked as sharp as anyone could in those conditions,” Scott said of Bruhn’s form.

“He’s in good running form. Listening to him, he feels as fit as he has all year.”

However, when pressed on why some players, like Cam Guthrie did against Carlton in Round 7 after a long term quad injury, came straight back into the team and not others, Scott said it was “always a case-by-case basis”.

“I think these things are as much art as they are science,” he said.

“The bottom line, simple version is that we decided to be a bit more conservative (with Bruhn) and make sure there wasn’t anything we weren’t aware of before he came back into an AFL game.

“It’s a little bit of a guess that stuff, and when it works you say ‘great decision’ and when it doesn’t you think: ‘Why did we do that, why didn’t we take a more conservative route?’”

Scott said Atkins had yet to prove he was 100 per cent right for the Roos while Neale was “likely” to return.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said the challenge was not to “overcorrect” following a bad loss to the Western Bulldogs last Saturday night. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“It’s a little bit out of my hands to be honest, it’s more than just ‘get through’, he has to prove he’s 100 per cent right to play,” Scott said of Atkins.

“It’s not something we have clarity on right now.”

Scott said the challenge for his coaching staff was to not “overcorrect” following a disappointing 47-point loss to the Western Bulldogs last Saturday night.

The Cats were belted in a number of areas, including contested possession, inside 50s and scoring shots.

“We had a poor one and we’re not hiding away from that by any stretch of the imagination,” he said

“We recognise and I’ve said it a lot how difficult the competition is, how difficult it is for teams to be at their best every week, but that’s no excuse to be as off as we were.

“The challenge is to not overcorrect, especially as a coaching group.

“We acknowledge we need to be sharper going into this week, to this point we feel we’ve had a good prep and we’re going to need it.”

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield address his teammates after the 47-point loss to the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

The Cats face an improved North Melbourne outfit compared to the one they belted by 75 points in Round 5.

The Roos have been competitive in recent weeks with strong showings against the Dogs and Carlton, and knocked off the Gold Coast Suns in Round 18.

Since Round 13, North Melbourne is rated third in the league for groundball gets, fourth for clearance and seventh for contested possessions, with Geelong ranked eighth, 16th and 13th respectively.

“The Kangaroos look a different side post-bye to the one they were before, but you could say that about a lot of teams at the moment, at their best they’re dangerous,” he said.

Scott weighs into Kardinia Park surface debate

Geelong coach Chris Scott said GMHBA Stadium’s chopped-up surface had impacted mid-week training a “little bit” but maintained it was still the best in the country.

The managers of the ground, the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, brought in a chopper during the week to dry the surface following industry criticism after the Cats’ match against the Western Bulldogs.

Cats veteran Mitch Duncan said it was possibly the worst surface he had played on in his career.

Geelong’s VFL team played a curtain raiser against Footscray, and combined with the wet weather, the ground looked sub-par in some areas.

“A little bit but that’s just winter in Victoria,” Scott said of the impact on the Cats’ mid-week training.

“We’re very lucky here, we have access to what I think is the best surface in Australia, but in the middle of winter there are some challenges.

“Anyone who has played a decent amount of footy in Victoria understands what late July and August can be like.”

Kardinia Park’s surface drew plenty of criticism during the week. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

He said it had no impact on the team’s performance and his charges simply failed to adapt to the conditions against the Western Bulldogs.

“You don’t just roll out the same way of playing, you’ve got to adapt,” he said.

“I’d love to be able to point at that and say it was more an issue for us than it was for the opposition, but it’s the same for both teams.

“We didn’t start thinking about the surface (in our review).

“I think I said we didn’t play the conditions very well, but that’s what being a professional team is all about.

“We’ve been pretty good at adapting to the conditions and playing the way the conditions dictate.”

This masthead has contacted the trust for comment.

However, trust chief executive Gerard Griffin told K rock earlier this week it was an “unlucky” situation for all involved.

“A little bit unlucky with the base workload the ground cops, plus we do like the double-headers,” Griffin said.

“But the one risk – and this is a bit like horses running around in the middle of rain – if you cop rain during the actual games, which is what we had in the lead-up to the VFL, and then on the VFL, then between the VFL and AFL, you’re guaranteed to cut it up more than if it was just rain on a ground with no activity on it.

“So, a bit unlucky. But you’ll keep learning, (and) you’ll keep trying to do your best as far as management tactics and training load tactics.”

Originally published as Geelong coach Chris Scott says the Cats must not ‘overcorrect’ following poor showing against the Western Bulldogs